This part of the chapter focuses on the reasons for
requiring research to be subjected to ethical review.
It first explores what research is and why we might think
it is valuable. Some historical cases of unethical research
are introduced, along with the development of codes
and laws governing research in response to these
cases. These cases, along with a variety of other factors,
provide a broad justification for the ethical regulation
of research.
In most countries the majority of research involving
human participants is now reviewed by a research ethics
committee (REC) consisting of both professionals
and lay people whose role is to assess the ethical
acceptability of the research and to ensure adequate
protections for research participants. Within the EU
this is legally mandatory for all clinical trials, (1
) and
many countries require similar levels of scrutiny for all
medical research. While there is much research involving
human participants that falls outside these legal requirements, many institutions, such as universities,
professional bodies and funders of research, have
decided to regulate the research that they control by
setting up institutional research ethics committees and/
or codes of practice.